FOOD NEWS
Mexican Food Can Be Traced All The Way Back To 7000 BC
By David Tran
Mexico is a vast country with a constantly evolving cuisine that has been influenced by outside countries as well as its own regions throughout history. Whether you’re eating Taco Bell, Tex-Mex fusion cuisine, or authentic dishes, Mexican food has a long history that dates back millennia.
Many ingredients used in Mexican cuisine can be traced back to 7000 BC when Mesoamerican civilizations shifted towards agriculture, and Indigenous groups grew beans, tomatoes, avocados, and more. Maize, or corn, was particularly important; in fact, tortillas and tamales, which are made from corn, were derived from Indigenous recipes.
Mexican cuisine has also been greatly influenced by Spanish colonization — when the Spanish colonized Mexico in the 1500s, they introduced new meats like pork and beef as well as dairy. Today's Mexican fare embraces cheese and meats brought over by the Spanish, as well as ingredients found in the U.S., which is how dishes like chili con carne came to be.